Conditioning apparatus with work transfer mechanism



Oct. 19, 1965 4. N. IPSEN 3,212,765

CONDITIONING APPARATUS WITH WORK TRANSFER MEGHANISM Filed Oct. 25, 19618 Sheets-Sheet 1 m @Jarod lpJeYL. (/a/Muww CATTOWEIY/ Oct. 19, 1965 H.N. IPSEN 3,212,765

CONDITIONING APPARATUS WITH WORK TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Oct. 25, 19618 Sheets-Sheet 2 (mvronuoayf Oct, 19, 1965 H. N. IPSEN 3,212,765

CONDITIONING APPARATUS WITH WORK TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Oct. 25, 19618 Sheets-Sheet 3 60 83 I ql@ oucwoxd GVL IPJe-m y @da W M 9M Oct. 19,1965 H. N, IPSEN 3,212,765

CONDITIONING APPARATUS WITH WORK TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed OCC. 25, 19618 Sheets-Sheet 4 H. N. IPSEN Oct. 19, 1965 CONDITIONING APPARATUS WITHWORK TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Oct. 25. 1961 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 MVEJMTOV@Marold O/L. lpJe-m mm jmA/M duyqlw Oct. 19, 1965 H. N. IPSEN 3,212,765

CONDITIONING APPARATUS WITH WORK TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Oct. 25, 19618 Sheets-Sheet 6 CATTORNESY/ @et 19, 1965 H. N. IPSEN CONDITIONINGAPPARATUS WITH WORK TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed OCT.. 25, 1961 8Sheets-Sheet 7 wond Q1. lpuey H. N. IPSEN Oct. 19, 1965 CONDITIONINGAPPARATUS ,WITH WORK TRANSFER MECHANISM 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Oct. 25,1961 cfrrromwyf Harold CYL. lprfew 7 any, @M4 awww United States Patent3,212,765 CONDITIONING APPARATUS WITH WORK TRANSFER MECHANISM Harold N.Ipsen, Rockford, Ill., assignor to Ipsen Industries, Inc., Rockford,Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Oct. 25, 1961, Ser. No. 147,579 6Claims. (Cl. 266-5) This invention relates to conditioning apparatusincluding a plurality of conditioning chambers through which articles tobe operated on are moved step by step for the performance of the variousoperations. More particularly, the invention relates to apparatus of theabove type which comprise a plurality of heat treating chambers such asa pre-heat furnace, a high heat furnace and oil, Water and air quenchingchambers along with transfer mechanism -for advancing articles to beheat treated successively through the various chambers.

The general object of the present invention is to provide an apparatusof the above character which is constructed and arranged in a novelmanner to simplify the apparatus and reduce its cost as compared toprior apparatus of this type while at the same time increasing theflexibility of programming without loss of production capacity.

Another object is to arrange the chambers in a novel manner so that onetransfer mechanism, mounted in a position where it is protected from theintense heat of the furnaces, is effective to make all transfers betweencharnbers.

A further object is to provide an apparatus of the above character inwhich any combination of chambers may be selected quickly and easily andthe articles to be treated advanced through the selected chamberswithout passing through the remaining unused chambers.

Still another object is to utilize the idle time during the treatment ofone article in one chamber to transfer another article between the otherchambers.

A further object is to transfer articles between chambers in aprotective atmosphere which is maintained, without reconditioning,during the treatment of more than one load.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which FIGURE l is a plan view of a heattreating apparatus embodying the novel features of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View taken along the Iline 22 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 33 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section taken along the line 4 4 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 55 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the transfer mechanism shown inFIG. 5 with the mechanism partially extended.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 7 7 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 8 8 in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along the line 9 9 inFIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along the line 10 10 inFIG. 7.

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. l0 but showing a different position ofthe parts.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View taken substantiallyalong the line 12 12 in FIG. 5.

3,212,765 Patented Oct. I9, 1965 lCe FIG. 13 is an enlarged fragmentarysection taken along the line 13 13 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary plan view of the parts shown in FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along the line 15-15 inFIG. 5.

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary plan view of the parts shown in FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 17 17 inFIG. 4.

As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the invention isincorporated in a conditioning apparatus which may be utilized for heattreating metal workpieces carried in baskets 10 that are advanced stepby step through a plurality of conditioning chambers in which thesuccessive steps in the heat treating process are performed. In thisinstance, the apparatus includes a furnace 11 for preheating the coldWorkpieces, a high heat furnace 12, and additional chambers 13 and 14that may be used for appropriate air and liquid quenches for the heatedworkpieces. Herein, the chamber 14 is equipped to provide a water quenchand the chamber 13 oil or air quenches.

Each of the four conditioning chambers is of conventional constructionand comprises a wall-ed enclosure formed with an opening 15 in 4one endwall through which the baskets 10 may be loaded into the chamber. Toseparate the chambers so that the atmosphere therein may be controlledduring treatment, the openings 15 are controlled by power-operated doors17 through 20. These doors are raised and lowered by suitableselectively operable .power actuators 21. Thus, one or more ofthechambers may be evacuated or otherwise conditioned such as by theintroduction of a special protective atmosphere in a manner well knownin the art. The furnaces 11 and 12 are heated to the proper temperaturesby gas or electric heating units indicated generally at 22.

The quenching chambers 13 and 14 preferably include elevator platforms(not shown) normally held level with the furnace floors or hearths toreceive the baskets therefrom upon completion of the heating steps. Witha basket on the platform, the latter is lowered into a tank `ofquenching liquid mounted in the chamber below the level of the hearths,one or the other of the quenches being selected -according to thedesired characteristics of the finished product. Hydraulic actuators 23(FIG. 1) raise and lower the platforms.

Movement of the baskets between the various chambers is accomplished bya transfer mechanism 24. Conventionally, heat treating apparatus of thistype have been arranged with the conditioning chambers disposed in aline and with a conveyor running the length of the apparatus througheach chamber in the line, or with separate transfer mechanism disposedbetween each pair of adjacent chambers so as to be protected from theintense heat developed in the furnaces.

In accordance with the present invention, the apparatus is constructedand arranged in a novel manner to simplify the apparatus and reduce itscost as compared to prior apparatus of this type, while at the same timeincreasing the flexibility of available programming without loss ofproduction capacity. To achieve these ends, the apparatus includes anenclosed transfer chamber 25 and a transfer table 27 movable back andforth therein along a predetermined path. The four conditioning chambersare spaced apart along this path and each is formed with an openingcommunicating with the trainsfer chamber so that the table 27 may bemoved alternately into alinement with each of the openings 15 and thebaskets 10 picked up, transferred and unloaded into another chamber.such an arrangement, a single transfer mechanism 24 may With be mountedon the table and is effective to serve all of the chambers, and alltransfers may be made in the controlled atmosphere of the transferchamber.

In the interest of compactness of the apparatus and simplicity of themounting of the transfer table, the four conditioning chambers arepositioned on the four sides of the transfer chamber with the openingsfacing toward the center of the chamber 25, and the transfer table 27 issupported in the chamber 25 for rotation through an arc including thevarious openings 15. The chamber 25 is formed by generally octagonal topand bottom walls 28 and 29 respectively and four side walls 30 through33 (see FIG. 4) spaced apart around and connecting the top and bottom todene four lateral openings into the chamber. Each wall of the chamberpreferably is formed by spaced parallel plates providing insulatingspaces to reduce heat loss from the chamber. Supporting the chamberabove iloor level is a frame 34 including upright legs 35 and 37, crossbars 38 (FIGS. 2 and 3) and a brace 39, the bottom wall -or floor 29 ofthe chamber being held on the cross bars 38 slightly below the level ofthe openings into the conditioning chambers. Three of the openings intothe transfer chamber are-surrounded by necks 40 (FIG. 4) which aresealed against the outer walls o fthe associated conditioning chambersso that transfers through those openings are made without exposing thework to outside atmosphere. The opening communicating with the waterquench chamber 14 simply is closed by the sliding door 20.

As shown in FIG. l, at least -one of the chambers is formed with anouter opening through which the baskets are loaded as well as the inneropening 15 communicating with the transfer chamber. Herein, the basketsare loaded onto an exterior roller conveyor 41 and into the oil quenchchamber 13 through an outer opening controlled by a power-operated door42. Accordingly, this chamber serves the dual purposey of loadingstation and quench station. While the loading chamber also may be usedfor unloading the baskets, herein baskets are unloaded through an -outeropening 43 (FIG. l) in the Water quench chamber 14 and onto a rollerconveyor 44.

In the present instance, the transfer table 27 is mounted to rotate in ahorizontal plane by means including a central post 45 in the transferchamber upstanding from the floor 29 and journaled in bearings 47 (FIG.5) in the oor. This table comprises a somewhat elongated rectangularframe including parallel channel bars 48 running along opposite sidesand connected across the ends by bars 49 and 50. Spanning the undersidesof the side bars intermediate the ends of the latter and preferablyoffset slightly toward one end is a cross channel 51 which is boltedadjacent its midpoint to the post 45.

To facilitate back and forth sliding of the baskets along a rectilinearpath, a conveyor 52 is formed at one end of the table. In this instance,this conveyor comprises a plurality of rollers 53 journaled at theiropposite ends in parallel upright legs of spaced bars 54 of generallyrectangur cross-section (see FIG. 17), the horizontal legs of the bars54 being supported at one end on posts 55 (FIG. 5) on the cross channel51 and at the other 'end on the end bar 50. The rollers are positionedto support they baskets at the level of the furnace oors.

Preferably, additional support is provided for the ends of the table tomaintain the latter level under the weight of the baskets. This may beaccomplished by mounting a plurality of grooved wheels 57 around theframe to roll on an annular track 58 secured to the floor of thetransfer chamber under the table 27. Herein, one wheel is mounted on theend of the frame opposite the conveyor 52 and two are mounted at theother end, one on each side channel. Each wheel is rotatably supportedbetween the legs of a U-shaped yoke 59 (FIGS. 3 and 5) openingdownwardly from a horizontal arm 60 supported at one end on andprojecting outwardly from the frame. The track 58 is formed by a bar ofrectangular cross-section bent into a 4 ring and bolted to the floor 29so that the wheels 57 ride on the upright leg of the bar.

Indexing of the table to position the conveyor 52 alternately in frontof the different chambers may be accomplished by means of a genevamechanism 61 (FIGS. 2 and 7) mounted on the frame 34 supporting thechamber. The illustrative mechanism includes a double-acting cylinder 62pivotally mounted at one end on a lug 63 (FIG. 7) bolted to a crossbar38 (see FIGS. 2 and 3.), and a lever 64 fulcrumed intermediate its endson the leg to turn about a vertical axis. One end of the lever isconnected to a piston rod 65 carried by a piston 67 slidable in thecylinder 62 and the other end extends inwardly under Athe chamber 25 andover a circular index plate 68. The latter is concentric with andsecured to the lower end of the central post 45 to turn with thetransfer table. Angularly spaced around the plate are four radiallyextending grooves 69 which are formed in blocks 70 fastened to the upperside of the index plate and mounted on the plate in positions correlatedwith the positions of the openings 15 into the chambers. At the free endof the lever is la downwardly extending roller 71 adapted to ride in thegrooves 69. With the roller seated in one of the grooves, turning of thelever through a ninety degree arc indexes the table through acorresponding turn from one chamber to the next.

As shown in FIGS. l0 and ll, the roller 71 is carried by a piston 72movable up and down in a double-acting cylinder 73 and, therefore, ismovable into and out of the plane of the grooves 69. Thus, the table 27may be indexed in either direction from a given position and any desirednumber of steps in one Vdirection merely by controlling the position ofthe roller 71 during the back and forth movement of the lever 64. Toconnect the lever to the index plate, the piston 72 is moved downwardlyinto the extended position (FIG. 10) wherein the roller enters one ofthe grooves, for example, the one on the upper right hand side as viewedin FIG. 7. When the piston 67 is extended by admitting pressure fluidfrom a suitable source 66 (FIG. 2) to the head end of the cylinder 62,the lever is swung in a clockwise direction and roller moves along thegroove to turn the index plate ninety degrees in a counter-clockwisedirection, the lever swing-' ing through the position shown in phantomin FIG. 7 and against a bracket 74. If it is desired to index further inthe same direction, the roller is retracted (FIG. 1l) by admittingpressure fluid to the rod end of the cylinder and the lever swings backagainst a second bracket 74a on the left hand side. next radiatinggroove and the piston is extended to swing the lever to the left andindex the table another ninety degrees.

Mechanism is provided to lock 'the transfer table in a selected angularposition. Herein, this mechanism comprises a double-acting cylinder 75(FIGS. 2, 3, 5 and 7) held on a bracket 77 on the frame 34 and a lockpin 78 carried by the cylinder 75 and reciprocable thereby toward andaway from the index plate. Stop blocks 79 interposed between the grooves69 are formed with tapered, radially-opening recesses into which thetapered end of the lock pin 78 fits when the table is aligned with theone of the openings 15. Thus, when 'the table has been indexed intoalinement with the desired chamber, the lock pin may be moved intoregistering recess thereby locking the table in the selected position.

The transfer mechanism 24 for moving baskets 10 into and out of theconditioning chambers preferably is carried by the transfer table andincludes a pair of elongated parallel rods 80 disposed on opposite sidesof the basket and journ'aled in spaced bearings on the table for bothturning and endwise sliding. Spanning Vthe space between the rods is abar 81 normally positioned adjacent the inner end of the conveyor 52 andslightly above the tops of the rollers 53 to provide an abutment forengaging the baskets and pushing them olf the table as the rods slideThen the roller is engaged in the4 toward one of the chambers. Removalof baskets from the chambers is accomplished by fingers 82 rigid withthe outer ends of and projecting radially from the rods. When a basketis being loaded into a chamber, the rods are positioned so that thefingers are held in a vertical position and are out from behind thebasket. When a basket is to be removed from a chamber, however, the rodsare turned to swing the fingers inwardly and behind the basket so thatthey engage and withdraw the basket as the rods are retracted.

Preferably, such turning of the fingers 82 is accomplished automaticallyas an incident to the back and forth movement of the rods 80. For thispurpose, cams 83 and 84 (FIGS. 13 through 16) are mounted along each rodon the channel bars 48 and cooperate with follower pins 85 on the rodsto turn the latter back and forth. As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, each cam83 is an elongated member of arcuate cross-section pivotally mounted ona pin 87 journaled in and depending from a horizontal plate 88overhanging the rod 80 from the side channel 48. A torsion spring 89urges the pin in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 14 toswing the cam against a flange 90 depending from the free edge of theplate 88. Consequently, the cams 83 are held generally parallel to thepaths of the rods.

Along one edge 91, each cam is formed with a helical surface which turnsprogressively downwardly through a quarter turn. The other edge 92 isvertical and curves away from the pivot toward the free end of the cam.So that the fingers 82 are horizontal when the follower pins 85 arevertical, the latter are secured to the rods adjacent their inner endsand are offset ninety degrees from the fingers. Beginning in theretracted position of the rods (FIG. 14), the follower pins ride alongthe surface 91 and are turned downwardly to raise the fingers as therods are extended. Thus, the basket is moved into the chamber by the bar81 and left in the chamber when the rods are withdrawn.

Turning of the rods to bring the fingers back into position to engagethe baskets during the unloading stroke is accomplished by the cams 84which are disposed alongside the rods and adjacent the outer end of theconveyor. As shown in FIGS. and 16, these cams are bolted to plates 93on the channel bars 48 and are formed with one helical edge 94 turningupwardly through a quarter turn. When the follower pins pass along theedge 94, they are turned back to the vertical position in which thefingers are disposed behind the basket.

As the rods are extended to unload a chamber, the follower pins, whichare horizontal after the previous loading stroke, freely pass the cams83 and the fingers move to a position beyond the back edge of thebasket. During unloading, the rods are moved slightly further than inloading so that the pins engage the cams 84 and the fingers are turneddown, the bar 81 engaging the basket and moving it further into thechamber. As the rods are retracted to draw the basket out, the uprightpins pass along the edge 92 of the cams 83 and the latter are swung outof the way and then snap back as the pins clear the free ends of thecams. Thus, the fingers are down during indexing of the table and untilthe beginning of the next loading stroke. At that time, the followerpins ride along the cam surfaces 91 and the fingers are turned up.

Herein, the rods 80 are driven back and forth by power derived from areversible hydraulic motor 95 (FIGS. 2 and 12) and transmitted to therods through appropriate gearing and nut and screw elements 97 and 98respectively. The motor 95 is suspended on a bracket 99 hanging belowthe index plate 68 and drives a horizontal pulley 100 carrying anendless V-belt 101 running around a second pulley 102 fast on the lowerend of a shaft 103. This shaft is journaled in the post 45 to extendupwardly into the transfer chamber through the post and the crosschannel 51, and carries at its upper end a bevel gear 104.

The latter drives a meshing gear 105 on a horizontal shaft 107 (FIGS. 4and 5) extending from the center of the transfer table to the endthereof opposite the conveyor and carrying at its outer end a bevel gear108 meshing on opposite sides with gears 109 on laterally extendingshafts 110 leading to each side of the frame. Through meshing gears 111,the shafts turn the screws 98 which extend along opposite sides of theframe. The nuts 97 are threaded on these screws and move back and forthas the motor 95 is driven in opposite directions. As shown in FIG. 6,each rod is carried by one of the nuts 97 and moves back and forth withthe associated nut.

y In operation, a basket is sealed in the oil quench chamber 13, thetransfer table is indexed into alinement with that chamber, the door 19is opened and the motor 95 energized in a direction to extend the rods80 into the chamber on opposite sides of the basket and turn the fingersdown behind the basket. Then the motor is reversed to move the basketinto the transfer chamber. With the basket on the transfer table, thelatter is indexed to the next chamber, usually the pre-heat furnace 11,where the rods are extended to move the basket off the transfer tableand into the furnace. After the rods are retracted, the furnace door 18is closed to seal the basket in the furnace.

When the pre-heating period is completed, the door 18 is opened and thebasket is transferred to the high heat furnace 12 in the manner abovedescribed and sealed in the furnace. At this time, the operator mayreturn the transfer table to the loading station 13 and load anotherbasket into the pre-heat furnace, thus using the idle time duringheating of one basket to begin the cycle on another. When the basket inthe high heat furnace is ready for quenching, the transfer table isindexed to the high heat furnace, unloads the basket and carries it tothe .selected quench chamber 13, 14 and loads the basket into thatchamber for quenching. The second basket then may be transferred -to thehigh heat furnace, again utilizing the idle time during the treating ofthe first load. Further, while the second basket is being heated, thefirst basket may be transferred to the unloading station 14 and removedfrom the apparatus. With this arrangement, flexibility of programming isincreased because three types of quench and two furnaces are availableand any cornbination of these chambers may be selected quickly andeasily as if the others were not included in the apparatus. Noproduction time is spent in moving the work through unused chambers.

It will be seen from the foregoing that it is not necessary to break theouter seals while making such transfers between chambers. Consequently,the atmosphere within the transfer chamber may be controlled during allof the transfers and may be conditioned in accordance with thecharacteristics of the metal being treated, for example, by mounting agas burner 112 (FIG. 2) in the transfer chamber and supplying it with anexcess of fuel to maintain a reducing atmosphere. Since two baskets maybe sealed in the apparatus at once and advanced through complete cycleswithout breaking the outer seal, the time devoted to reconditioning theatmosphere is reduced.

The heat treating apparatus described above may be operated by means ofsuitable manual control (not shown) for indexing the transfer tableselectively to the right or left, activating the actuators 21 to openand close the chamber doors, energizing the motor 95 in oppositedirections to operate the transfer mechanism, and controlling the cyclesof the various chambers. Such controls are well known in the art andrequire no further description.

In FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, various position switches are shown which may beused to facilitate operation of the apparatus. A bank of switches LS1through LS4 may be vertically stacked on a bracket 113 supported on theframe leg 35 adjacent the index plate. To activate these switches, dogs114 through 117 are suspended at different levels on bars 118 hangingbelow the index plate and angularly spaced around the plate in positionscorrelated with the spacing of the chamber openings. The levels of thesedogs correspond to the different levels of the stacked switches (seeFIG. 9) so that one switch is activated in each of the four lpositionsof the transfer table. The signals of these switches may be utilizedmerely 'to indicate to the operator the position of the table 27 or, ifdesired, to control the operation of the apparatus at each stationthrough suitable circuits well known in the art.

To limit rotation of the table in one direction to one full revolution,switches LSS and LS6 are mounted on a bar 119 alongside the index plateto be actuated by dogs'l 120 and 121 suspended at diiferent levels belowthe index. plate. As the table is turning in one direction, dog 120'opens switch LSS to prevent further turning in that direction. In theother direction, the dog 121 opens switch LS6 to stop the indexingmechanism.

Switches LC7 and LSS (see FIGS. 7, 10, and 11) are secured to thebrackets 742L and '74 respectively in the path of reciprocation of theroller 71 when the lever 64 is in its inactive positions so thatmovements of the roller operate the switches. Accordingly, theseswitches may be used to activate and de-activate the lock pin cylinder75, initiating the pulling of the lock pin 78 when the roller is loweredpreparatory to indexing and extending the pin upon completion of thestroke. The position of the lever may be indicated by switches LS9 andLS10 mounted respectively on the bracket 74a and 74 to be actuated bythe lever 64 in its inactive positions.

Switches LS11 and LS12 (FIG. 7) are spaced apart along the path of thelock pin 78 to be alternately activated by the actuator rings 122 and123 encircling the pin adjacent the end opposite the index plate. In theextended position of the pin, the ring 122 operates switch LS11 tosignal that the index plate is locked, and in the retracted position,the ring 123 operates switch LS-12- to signal that the plate is free toturn. These signals preferably activate and de-activate the indexingmechanism.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a heat treating apparatus, the combination of, an enclosedtransfer chamber, a plurality of conditioning chambers angularly spacedaround said transfer chamber and each having an inner openingcommunicating with said transfer chamber, one of said chambers having anouter opening for receiving articles to be treated and another having anouter opening for unloading articles after treating, a transfer tabledisposed in said transfer chamber in a horizontal plane level with saidopenings, means supporting said table for rotation about a vertical axisthrough an arc including the openings into each of said chambers, aconveyor on said table for supporting the articles for back and forthmovement along a rectilinear path, means for selectively indexing saidtable to aline said path with each of said inner openings, transfermechanism on said table for moving the articles back and forth alongsaid path and in and out of the selected one of said chambers, and meansfor controlling the atmosphere within said chambers, said last mentionedmeans including selectively operable doors for opening and closing atleast said inner openings.

2. Conditioning apparatus including, in combination, an enclosed:transfer chamber, a table disposed within said chamber in a horizontalplane, means supporting said table for rotation about la vertical raxis,a plurality of conditioning chambers spaced around said tnansfer chamberand each having an Iopening communicating with the transfer chamber andlevel with said table, mean-s for selectively indexing said table intoialinfcrnent with each of said openings, .tnansfer mechanism on saidtable for moving .articles to be operated on back and forth betweenlsaid table and the selected one of said chambers, means 4for sea-lingsaid chambers, :and means for controlling the atmosphere within saidchambers.

3. Conditioning yapparatus including, in combination, :an enclosedtransfer cham-ber, a table rotatably mounted in said transfer chamber, aplurality of conditioning chamibers spaced anound Isaid transfer chamberand each having an inner opening communicating with fthe transferchamber, one of said conditioning chambers also having 'an outer openingfor receiving San Iarticle to be operated on, selectively operable doorsfor closing said outer lopening :and at lea-st one of said inneropenings, means for selectively indexing said platform into lalineme-ntwith each of said inner openings, .transfer mechanism for mov- :ing theartic-le back and tforth be-tween said table and tlhe selected one ofsaid conditioning chambers, and means for controlling the atmosphere'Within said chambers.

`4. Condition-ing apparatus including, in combination, :an enclosedtransfer Achamber having an opening for receiving articles .to beoperated on, a table rotatably moun-ted in said transfer chamber, aplurality of conditioning chambers spaced around :said transfer chamberand each having an opening communicating with the transfer chamber,means vfor selectively indexing said table into .alinernent with each ofsaid open-ings, Itransfer mechanism for moving the articles back andforth between said table and the selec-ted one of said conditioningchambers, and means lfor contro-lling the atmosphere wit-hin saidchambers.

A5. IConditioning apparat-us inclu-ding, in combina-tion, an enclosedtransfer chamber having .an opening for -receiving articles -t-o beoperated on, a .transfer .table movable back fand for-th in saidtrans-fer chamber to carry the articles along a predetermined path, aplurality of conditioning chambers spaced apart along said path and eachhaving an opening communicating with said transfer chamber, means forcontrolling .the movements of said table to aline the llatterselectively with ea-ch of said openings, transfer mechanism on saidtable selectively opertable to move fthe articles back and forthrelative :to said table and said path and .through the selected one ofsaid openings, and means rfor icontrolling the 'atmosphere Within saidchambers.

16. Conditioning apparatus as defined in Iclaim 5 in which saidconditioning chambers are spaced around said transfer chamber to openinwardly toward said table, and sai-d table is rotatably mounted in saidtransfer chamber rfor indexing int-o alinetment with said openings.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,470,285 5 49Bierwinth 2,19--10 A2,6228 61 12/ 52E Talley.

l2,641,064 6/53 'Foner 16S-120 X l2,681,136 6/54' Ipsen.

`2,853,588 -9/58 Brown 2119-10 2,978,23 7` 4/ `6'1 IFrank.

JOHN F. CAMPBELL, Primary Examiner.

yCHARLES SUKALO, MORRIS O. WOLK, Examiners.

5. CONDITIONING APPARATUS INCLUDING, IN COMBINATION, AN ENCLOSEDTRANSFER CHAMBER HAVING AN OPENING FOR RECEIVING ARTICLES TO BE OPERATEDON, A TRANSFER TABLE MOVABLE ENCLOSED TRANSFER CHAMBER HAVING AN OPENINGFOR REARTICLES ALONG A PREDETERMINED PATH, A PLURALITY OF CONDITIONINGCHAMBERS SPACED APART ALONG SAID PATH AND EACH HAVING AN OPENINGCOMMUNICATING WITH SAID TRANSFER CHAMBER, MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THEMOVEMENTS OF SAID TABLE TO ALINE THE LATTER SELECTIVELY WITH EACH OFSAID OPENINGS, TRANSFER MECHANISM ON SAID TABLE SELECTIVELY OPERABLE TOMOVE THE ARTICLES BACK AND FORTH RELATIVE TO SAID TABLE AND SAID PATHAND THROUGH THE SELECTIVE TO SAID OPENINGS, AND MEANS FOR CONTROLLINGTHE ATMOSPHERE WITHIN SAID CHAMBERS.